To kick off a new month in the mountains I was blessed with a chilly but beautiful morning. I drove down to Newcomb with a bellyful of chocolate milk and breakfast burritos with sights set on some new backcountry targets. I had first read about an intriguing ‘Lake Andrew’ when NYS first acquired the MacIntyre West tract, situated near the Tahawus/Upper Works hub of the High Peaks. The small lake is accessible by a network of roads that had lead to numerous hunting camps which were all dismantled by 2018. I never explored much of this area, I could only imagine what kind of mysteries and surprises awaited me along the so-called Santanoni Road that had previously been avoided, instead always hanging a right and going to Bradley Pond.
Lucky me, there’s even a pair of peaks on either side of the lake to bolster the fun factor further yet! …Not so lucky me was running into culvert replacement road construction delays only 5 minutes before the trailhead. I shoulda known, I was just there climbing North Henderson from the Preston Ponds 2 days prior, the roadwork seemed to had just begun. After a short while the crew waved me on, this had given me time to enjoy a bonus breakfast shake and lace up my boots. I was the only car in the lot when signing the register at 9 am. My feet aren’t the biggest fans of that bracing gravel road walk that starts you off, but the babbles of the adjacent brook took my mind over the matter. Eventually the surfaces softened as I furthered my distance from the start point, and passing by the Bradley Pond turnoff I was now in new territory. It’s fairly easy to get pointed in the right direction toward Lake Andrew following the roads, but before reaching it I’d jump into the woods and visit a 2800’ peak directly to the west of the waters and see what was going on up there. After all, at a point the summit was maybe a few good frisbee throws away, or at least that’s how it’d hopefully be! The goings around then were reminding me of the down and up hurdles of the intentionally impassible logging roads in the Boreas Tract, also in neighboring MacIntyre East. Talk about culvert replacements. Recently this “re-wilding” aspect on old rights-of-way into the wilderness was scrutinized because of potentially hindering SAR efforts, definitely an interesting point to consider. The clues in the surroundings revealed where a few hunting camps once stood in clearings, and one afforded a fine view of ol’ Santanoni and the Twin Slides. It’s been 6 summers now since I’ve been up there, but I did visit Little Santanoni last September. During that 22 mile day trip it poured, and I remember feeling like I couldn’t have been more soaked even if I had jumped into a pool.
But alas, today I was dry, and now finally it was time to climb. I took a fairly friendly line straight up to the 866m summit, the only thick and troublesome part was around the highest point. There was no sweeping vista from here but through branches I could make out a probable Newcomb Lake and of course Santanoni’s hulking presence nearby. I didn’t spend very long there, after some glugs of Gatorade I oriented myself and dropped down to meet the road again. The shimmering waters of Lake Andrew appeared through the leafless trees and soon enough I found myself eating lunch upon a shoreline rock. A very peaceful place indeed, not very many seem to make it out here. I did notice a pair of ski tracks in a patch of surviving snow though. Across the lake was the eponymous Mount Andrew rising roughly 750’ from the water, my next target for the day. The lake and thenceforth the mountain were likely named honoring an iron works executive from the olden days, similar to other summits in the High Peaks. I rock hopped and balanced on floating logs to get over to the eastern shore where another camp had stood. The beckoning backdrop of Santanoni Peak could be viewed from this perspective, which warranted a reflective pause to enjoy my apple and the beautiful combination of peak & lake periphery.
Yet again it was time to make an ascent, I chose to aim up the steep south slope of the mountain, planning to loop over and return to the Santanoni Road coming off the north side of Andrew. I experienced good woods until intermittent scratchiness just before the long summit ridge, this was short lived. The contours tightened as I gained the ridge, I poked around for an opening in the trees for a lookout towards the east. I hoisted myself up onto a ledge where I could see Marcy, Skylight, Allen and the North River Mountains with some of the Dix Range. Most obvious however was the massive gaping hole in the earth filled with water, the lasting scar from the mining era near what was Sanford Lake. After some snapping I pressed on, the terrain began to level off. The highest point of Mount Andrew is on the far end to the N and I arrived there 20 minutes later, standing in the 3100’ neighborhood above the level of the sea. Another neat Adirondack 3k footer under my belt, I have less than 30 remaining…
Beginning to drop down northwards I found another small lookout where part of Rist Mountain and the peaks of the Hoffman Notch could be seen. The woods were easy going and the travel brisk, I met deciduous trees and quickly picked up on old logging roads that shepherded me down to familiar ground. The leaf-out is still yet to come, so as I descended looking to the Indian Pass it was on full display. I crossed the brook and back onto the road I was, just over 2 miles from the trailhead.The hike out was uneventful. My feet were not looking forward to the gravelly exit walk to end the trip but it came to pass. I saw no other people over my 11 mile outing and thankfully not a single biting insect either. Another fine day in the mountains and a new area explored, the gifts that keep on giving. Until next time folks!